Used tires can save a lot

They can cost one-third the price of new ones — but exercise caution.

On The Cheap cheapster Tom Banotai, of Allentown, shares his tip on how to… (APRIL BARTHOLOMEW, THE…)

February 23, 2013|Spencer Soper | On The Cheap

A few months ago we had a tire blowout on the highway.

We were rounding a turn and there was a two-by-four in the middle of the lane. We didn't have time to switch lanes, so we did our best to straddle it. We missed it with the front tires, but rolled right over it with one of the back tires.

We didn't see exactly what happened, but when we got the car on the shoulder, the flat tire had a big rip in the sidewall. That's the kind of damage you can't repair with a patch.

It was a weekend and we were out of town, which limited our options. Once we found a tire shop that was open and with a tire our size, we had to bite the bullet. Total hit was about $130.

Things went a lot better for Tom Banotai of Allentown when he had a similar experience with his trusty old minivan. It's a great-looking minivan. He probably has to fight the ladies off with a tire iron when he rolls through town in it.

But we're not just jealous of Tom's stylish ride. We envy the clever way he saved some money when he had a blowout.

"Perhaps you could do an article on the used-tire businesses in Allentown," Tom said. "These shops seem to be popping up in various locations in Allentown and seem to be flourishing. With the high price of new tires, related to the price of oil, it seems like a good idea. I myself needed a replacement tire for one of my vehicles last week and decided to stop at the shop on Union Street right before the Hamilton Street bridge. It was a Monday morning and the place was hopping."

We can vouch for Tom on that. We go past that place every day heading to work, and it is consistently busy, morning and night.

"I had to wait 20 minutes just to pull my car on the lot," Tom said. "Once it was my turn, I left in 10 minutes with a nearly new tire on my car with the exact tire specs I needed mounted and balanced for $30 plus a $5 tip. The deserving, hardworking staff spent all day outside on their knees, in the cold changing tires and we get a good deal in return. In a tire store, this would have cost me around $100 after all the added taxes and fees."

It was pretty thoughtful of Tom to tip the guy who helped him save so much money. And buying used tires is a good way to prevent good tires salvaged from wrecked cars from going to the landfill.

Some experts warn against buying used tires. There is no way to know if they were used under excessively heavy loads or at unsafe speeds, which can cause tire damage beyond visible tread wear. One safeguard is to check the date the tire was manufactured, typically the last four digits of a code on the sidewall. If it's more than 10 years old, steer clear.

Despite some risk, a set of used tires with good tread is probably safer than driving around on bald tires because you can't afford new ones. Unfortunately, this is a choice some folks driving to work have to make.

You can see Tom and his nearly new tire in a video we put on http://www.mcall.com/onthecheap. We even gave his tire the penny test, putting a penny between the treads to measure the meat on them. The treads measured well above Abraham Lincoln's hairline.

We did some number-crunching in the On The Cheap lab and figure this tip could save you $2,800 over 20 years. That's probably about how many more years Tom expects to get out of that minivan.